The alternative was to get on a plane to Salt Lake City, so Kobe Bryant hung out and talked to reporters long after the final horn Sunday. The questions had less to do with the Lakers’ victory over Golden State than with Bryant’s personal comeback this season.
It has been a long climb back for Bryant, first from the Colorado accusation, then following the Shaquille O’Neal trade and Phil Jackson’s book. He said that he had all kinds of marketing and P.R. types trying to offer him advice on how to get his image back.
``They wanted me to go on this big campaign, do `Saturday Night Live,’ do all these talk shows and all this other stuff,’’ Bryant said. ``My response to them was, `I don’t want to do that. What I want to do I just be myself.’
``I said the one change that I will make is I’ll allow people to see more of who I am as a person outside of the basketball court because I felt like throughout my earlier years, I never allowed people to truly see that.
``The side they saw of me was the killer instinct that I played with or the disagreements that we had on the team.’’
Wherever we go, you can see that the court of public opinion is shifting in Bryant’s favor. He ran off the court Sunday to cheers from hundreds of Lakers fans who filled the front rows of seats trying to get as close to No. 24 as possible.
Bryant said one example of how he changed came in publicizing his work with charitable causes, including the Boys and Girls Clubs and Make A Wish Foundation. You might remember a segment Bryant taped this summer with ESPN and a Make A Wish child.
``My philosophies there were, `I don’t do this for publicity, so why would I promote this or advertise it or blast it everywhere?’’’ Bryant said. ``One of the things they told me, they said, `Look, by you going out there and making it newsworthy, by putting it all over the place, helps the causes even more.’’’
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Bryant also told a story from his days as a high school star at Lower Merion (Pa.). He was asked about March Madness and whether he felt like he missed out by jumping to the NBA straight out of high school.
It’s not a surprise to Lakers fans that Bryant was planning to go to Duke before he entered the draft. What I hadn’t heard before was that North Carolina coach Dean Smith actually backed off recruiting Bryant because he was so sure he was headed to the pros.
Bryant could remember sitting in class and reading a letter that had been sent to him through his school. He said Smith had written him saying, ``I’m not going to waste your time. I’ve seen you play. I know you’re going to the NBA. Good luck.’’
There’s definitely an appreciation for the college game on Bryant’s part. When the Lakers were in New York to play the Nets earlier this season, Bryant and Ronny Turiaf went to watch Duke play Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden.
Bryant also went to a Pepperdine-Gonzaga game last season in Malibu with Turiaf, where he met up with Adam Morrison.
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Every concern and criticism is minimized in a victory, but Lamar Odom had a pretty modest afternoon with eight points, eight rebounds and five assists Sunday. He didn’t even touch the ball, in fact, for nearly the first five minutes of the game.
The Lakers didn’t need a big game out of Odom to beat the Warriors but that won’t be the case tonight against a Utah Jazz team that has won eight of its last nine games.
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I wrote about Jackson's new way of approaching timeouts (in the notes below) but forgot to mention that he also didn't hesitate in calling one only 1:08 into Sunday's game. The Lakers gave up three quick baskets to the Warriors and Jackson wasn't happy with how Andrew Bynum was playing defense.
Great article Cool. Glad Kobe came to the NBA, however could you see KB in a Duke uniform..To tell you Bro I'm happy that Kobe is more relax in his NBA career i.e working with kids and more excepted around the league. It was great when he was awarded the MVP this All Star Game and everybody supported him in his moment. But, dont get me wrong i would like to continue too see that killer instinct on the court.:)
Great article Cool. Glad Kobe came to the NBA, however could you see KB in a Duke uniform..To tell you Bro I'm happy that Kobe is more relax in his NBA career i.e working with kids and more excepted around the league. It was great when he was awarded the MVP this All Star Game and everybody supported him in his moment. But, dont get me wrong i would like to continue too see that killer instinct on the court.:)
I agree I love that Killer instinct about him. Not a lot of people have that in them. And I love his clutchness. I know if he has to take a shot to win us or tie us the game. I would give him the ball everytime.
Personally I would have love to see Kobe in a Duke uniform. Becuase they are my favorite college basketball team.
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